Bed-reciprocating mechanism.



H. PEARCE & F. SPENCE.

' BED nicwocm mEcHAmsM.

Patented Dec. 10, 1918.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 1 APPLICATION FILED MAY 12. 1915.

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H. PEARCE & F. SPENCE.

BED RECIPROCATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION man MAY l2. 191s.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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Patented Dec. 10, 1918.

H. PEARCE L F. SPENCE. BED RECIPROCATING MECHANISM. APPUcATloN msn MAY12.|915.

Patented Dec. 10, 1918.

H SHEETS-SHEET 3.

FIG.2.

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H. PEARCE & F. SPENCE.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 4 Patented Dec. 10, 1918.

H, PEARCE & F. sPENcE. BED RECIPROCATING ANIECHAANISM.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 5.

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APPUCATION FILED HAY 12. 19I5.

' Patented Dec. 10, 1918.

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kH. PEARCE & F. SPENCE. BED RECIPHOCATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION mw 11m12.191s.

1,287,090. v Patented Dec. 10, 1918,

8 SHEETS-SHEET I.

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H. PEARCE 3L F. SPENCE.

BED RECIPROCATING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED MAY I2. IsIIs.

Patented Dec. 10, 1918.

8 SHEETS-SHEET 8- 1 nan-Is uns cn. rnmmna, uusmmmm. n

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HERBERT PEARCE AND FRED SPENCE, OFBROADEATI-I, ENGLAND, ASSIGNORS T0 LINOTYPE .AND MACHINERYLMITED, OF LONDON, ENGLAND.

BED-RECIROGATING MECHANISM.

To all ywhom t may concern: l

Be it known that we, HERBERT PEARCE and FRED SPENCE, subjects of the King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and residing at Linotype and Machinery lVorks, Broadlieath, in the county yof Chester, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in Bed-Reciprocating Mechanism7 of which the following is a specification.

rfhis invention relates to mechanism for reciprocating parts of machines suchas the beds of flat bed printing presses, and, as it is especially applicable for use in connection with those beds, the following description is restricted to that application, although it is to be understood that the invention may equally well be employed in connection with the reciprocation of the beds of planing and similar machines.

More particularly, the invention may be said to relate to that class of mechanism in which the control of the bed is transferred, through al connecting-rod operated reciprocating member or members, toaiid from a single crank pin which edects the slowing down, stopping, reversing and acceleration of the bed at opposite ends of the travel of the latter, and from which the said control is transferred to the normal bed-operating gear which operates the bed at uniform velocity during the actual printing stroke and the return stroke, and which lclass of mechanism is to be understood as distinct fronr mechanism in which a purely harmonic niotion is imparted to a reciprocating member by a crank pin through a slotted yoke or similar connection.

'llo secure the best results in a flat bed printing press, it is necessary that the bed travel throughout its print-ing andreturn strokes at a uniform velocity and that, at the end of these strokes, and with as little strain as possible, the bed be brought graduallj,v to a. stop and have its direct-ion of travel reversed land its velocity in the reverse direction gradually accelerated from the stop or zero up to the maximum. It is also of very great importance that for the slowing down, stopping and reversal of the bed, as/small a proportion aspossible of the beds travel -be utilized, because the smaller Y Specification of Letters Patent. i Patented Dec, 10, 1918,

Application filed May 12, 1915. Serial No. 27,506.

that proportion, the greater will be the proportion available for printing,and consequently the greater will be the length (measured in the direction of the beds travel) of the surface which can be printed at each` cycle of the press. In presses having reciprocating mechanism of the abovenamed class, it has heretofore been proposed to transfer the control of the bed from the. bed motion pinion to a slide rectilinearly reciprocated by the crank pin and connecting rod, which slide is caused to engage with and be disengaged from a` member fast to the bed when the bed and slide are moving in the same direction. essential to the successful operation of such an arrangement are that the aforesaid trans` fers of control must be eiiected at instants at which the velocity of the slide is the same as that of the bed, and that from the instant of engagement to the instant of disengagement of the slide the velocity of the latter must continuously decrease from the normal velocity of the bed to zero and in-` crease from zero upward until the'normal velocity of the bed is again reached, and to attain this result it is desirable that the 'engagement and disengagement should be effected at instants at which the slide is travcling at its maximum velocity. Mechanism of the above-named class as heretofore proposed does not satisfy these conditions.

The invention is hereinafter described as applied to a known construction of press in which the bed is propelled through those parts of its travel which are of uniform velocity, preferably by two racks fast to the bed, with which two co-aXial pinions respectively are alternately caused to mesh, one pinion for propelling'the bed through its printing stroke and the other pinion for propelling the bed through the return stroke. These two pinions, although co-aXial with each other, are not mounted on theA same shaft, and they are rotated in relatively opposite directions by any convenient mechanism. kThe two pinions are moved into and out of meshvwith, or out of the'tracks of, their respective racks bysuitable camsand they are moreover capable of being both simultaneously disengaged with those racks. This particular arrangement of racks and Conditions pinions is not, however, essential to the c arrying out of the said invention, Which can be applied to any rack and pinion arrangement in which the travel of the bed in one direction at uniform velocity would, if the reversal were carried out according to the hitherto known arrangements above referred to, extend over a period occupied by not more than one complete rotation of the bed driving pinion.

The object of the presentinvention is to so construct mechanism of the just-mentioned type as to reduce the proportion of thek rotation of the crank devoted to the reversing operation, and correspondingly to increase theproportion of the rotation of the driving pinion toibej utilized for driving the bed at uniform velocity, and, consequently, thek proportion of the complete travel of thefbed available for 'the actual printing operation; attempts have been made'to secure asimilar yresult in connection with reversing vmechanism employing morelthan onefcrank pin', andit is to be unf derstood that thepresentinvention has no reference to anyjsuch mechanism.

The before-mentioned increase of the travel yof the bed at uniform velocity, according to the example vof the invention hereinafterdescribed, is obtained 'by the two 'pinions,` While lin mesh with itheir respective racks, rotating through angles of, say, a degrees beyond the 360 degrees which would carry the bed throughthenorinal distance, the angle a being'that hereinafter del'in'ed."

vThe invention Will no'W be kdescribed by reference tothe accompanying drawings in Whichz Y Figures 1 and 1? together form a side ele vation of part'of aprinting press with the improved bed-operat-ing mechanism appliedl thereto;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of a portion of the same; Figsg3, Ll, Sand 6 are `four diagrannuatic sider elevations of certain organs ofthe mechanism in the diferentflpositions respectively assumed-'by them iat four different stages of their cycle of operation;

Figs.`Validiy together 4form a diagrammatic View nshowing successive ypositions assumed by certain 'of the bed-operating organs during the 'period of' acceleration of the latters travel from i'zero and' during the. earlier part of itsV travel at normal speed;

figs. 8 and 9y are 'diagrams hereinafter more particularly` referred to. y

Like reference :charactersare used for indicating like or l similar parts lthroughout thel severalfigures Jof theI y'draWings.

Referring-first to Figs.1,'1 and 2, 1 is thebedmotion shaft which is rotatable in suitablebearings, only one of which, viz.,

that marked 2 is represented, see Fig. 2. The bearing 2 has fast to it an extension or sleeve 3 on Which is mounted the bed pinion L1 with a capacity of moving both rotatably and axially thereon. The pinion l is maintained in constant driving connection with the shaft 1, Whatever be the position of the former upon the sleeve 3, by the Well-known arrangement of a crank 5 rigidly secured to thc inner end of that shaft and engaging with a groove or recess 6 formed in or on the said gear wheel, as shown in dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2.

The bed motion shaft 1, has rigidly secured thereon a spur pinion 7, which, through an intermediate Wheel 8, drives a gear, Wheel 9 fast on a counter shaft 10 through which, as hereinafter described, the

return or non-printing stroke of the'bed 1l is effected.

The bed pinion l is capable of being moved axially along' the sleeve 3 into tivo difvferent positions in one of which, viz., that inwvhich it is'shown in Fig. 2, it is in engagement with the bed rack 12 which is fast to the undersi'de'of the'bed 11, and in the other of which it is at the left-hand side, as viewed in Fig. 2, and out ofthe path of the saidy bed rack; in this last-named position the'upper lportion of the bed pinion et is located, and free to rotate, in a recess 13,`in dicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2, in the adjacent part 14 of the press frame, this part 14:, like those marked respectively 15, 1G, presenting at its upper surface, as ordinarily, atrack for the rollers 48 which support the bed 11 throughout its longitudinal travel.

u rlhe rack 12, being that Which'propels the bed :11. throughout the part of its printing stroke which is of uniform velocity, is situated as nearly as possible at the center of the Width of the said bed so as to minimize any tendency of thebed to twist under the strain exerted on it by the bed pinion 4.

The before-mentioned countershaft 10 has fast on it aspur Wheel 17 Which is in constant driving connection With abed pinion 18 rotatable and axially movable on a short fixed shaft or stud 19, axially alined With, but independent of the bed motion shaft. The bed pinion 18, which is of the same diameter as the bed pinion 4, by its axial movement on the stud 19, is capable of being moved into and out of engagement With the bed rack 20, which, like the before describedbed rack 12, is fast to 'the underside of the bed 11. When the bed pinion 18 is out of engagement With the bed rack 2O (which is the condition in which itis shown in Fig. 2)

the upper part of it is received, and free to rotate, in a. recess 21, indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 2.

By the'before-describedapparatus the two bed pinions 4 and 18 are constantly rotated in opposite directions and consequently when, alternately, they are brought into mesh With their respective bedvracks 12, 20, the bed 11 is traversed in relatively opposite directions. Fig. 2 represents the bed pinion 4 enmeshed With the bed rack 12 andthe bedv pinion 18 disengaged from its bed rack 20,

which is the condition obtaining during the printing stroke of the bed 11; during the return or non-printing4 stroke of thebed 11, the bed pinion 4 is out of engagement with its bed rack 12, and the bed pinion 18 is in engagement With its bed rack 20. As the amount of resistance to the travel of the bed 11 during its return or non-printing stroke is less than that to be overcome during the printing stroke, the bed pinion 18 and bed rack 20 can, as shown in Fig. 2, be of lighter construction or less-Width than that of the pinion 4 and rack12. f e

The bed pinions 4 and 18 receive their axial movement through the following means: In the exterior of the'boss of each such pinion there is provided an annular groove v22 with `which are engaged'two gibs 23 carried by the upper'armsof a bifurcated lever 24`ada-pted to be rocked about a stationary pivot 25, by 'a grooved cam 26 or 27, rigidly secured to a' cam shaft 28 to which continuous rotary motion is imparted by any suitable gearing. The cams 26, 27, operate the levers 24 through rollers on thelower arms of the latter engaging with the grooves of the former, and the said cams are so constructed that the bed pinions 4, 18, are moved alternately into and out of operative alinement with their respective bed racks 12,'` 20, during the periods occupied by the yslowing down, stopping, reversingv and accelerating of the beds motiomthe pinion so moved out of engagementl being maintained in that condition throughout each such period. So far as this cam mechanismis concerned, the arrangement just described is or may be substantially the equivalent of that heretofore used for 'a' like purpose, the only material difference being that thercams 26, 27, are arranged to maintain thebed pinions 4, 18, in gear each with its` respective rack 12, 20, throughout a rotary'motion of rather more than 3604 degrees, say 3604-200 degrees.

To the inner endof the bed motion shaft 1 there is rigidly secured a plate 29 With which is integral, or to vWhich is rigidly attached, the before mentioned crank pin 30"onvvhielr are pivoted the-meeting ends' of tWo connecting rods `or links 31, 32; The outer ends of thev rods 31, 32, n' are pivoted upon studs or pins 33, 34, respeci tively, each of which is integral with, or fast to, a block or slide 35, 36, which is capable of sliding in stationary horizontal guides 37 ina direction parallel with the movement of the bed 11. Each of the'slides-35, 36, ortlie stud 33 or 34 thereon, is providedwith a de- 'vice A orB herein termed a hook having ,a

horizontal member and a vertical member A1 or B1, the latter members on'the tvvo slides 35, 36, being'situated in relatively opposite positions, that is to say, as shown in Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6, both of the vertical members A1, B1, `are locatedY at the outer ends of the hooks A, B, relatively to the bed motion shaft 1..

To the underside of the bed 11, at or about the center of its length and movable between the two vpinions 4,V 18, and transversely'to their common axis, there is rigidly secured a bracketor hanger 38, to which is rigidly secured What is herein termed a `re-V versing-stud 39 which is capable of engaging with the verticalfaces of the aforesaid ivertical membersI A1,-B1, when'the control of the bed 11 has t0 be transferred from the pinionsl he latch 40 is provided with an upstand-il ing arm carrying an anti-friction roller 41,y which engages With a cam race 42'01 43, seer particularly-Figs. 3 to 6, at or near there# spective end ofthe beds travel so as, at the required times, to move'the latch into and out of engagement With the hook A or B.

At' the times at lwhich the latch' is notv acted upon by theA cam races 43, it is; supported in its higher position by a spring 44, Figs.- lafand`2, attached, at one end, to; the hanger 38 and, at the other end, to van arm 45 extending'v downwardly from the boss of the Vlatch 40. The movement of the latch' 40 under the action of the' spring 44 is lim*-l ited by a pin or stop-46 fast tothe hanger 38, this stop being so positioned that the latch is maintained at the level of the higher portions of the cam races 42, 43, at all such times as the roller 4l 'is not engaged with thoseV cam races that is to sa durinv the v or noniprinting strokerespectively.` f l* To 'preventany damage being caused by reason of the latch 40beingf'dep`rived ofthe support given to it by thespring 44 (say'by breakage of the latter), the hanger 38 has rigidly fXed thereto a lstop l49 which underliesthe said, latch and would, inthe event.

Wise and clockwise direction, as yviewed `in Figs. 1, 3, 4, 'v'and 6, and that, as a convenient'stage 'from which lto start such description, Ethe bed 11 has :just reached the utterniost limit, of its non-printing stroke, and is `just about to reverse and start on its printing stroke.

'At this l instant the'crank pin 30 is-at the right-handside of, and inthe same horizontal plane asthatcontainingthe axis of the bedmotion shaft '1, and the reversing stud 39, hookB and latch 40 are mutually engagedginj the manner represented at the rightLha'nd vend of Fig. 7, the said latch, at this stage,being 'held in engagement with the hook B, antagonistically to the spring 44,by'thelower or outer end of the cam race 43 .acting on the roller 41.

Throughout the angular movement of the crankirpin 30through the next, say, 90-fz degrees,"the reversing stud 39, hook B and latch 40travel in mutual engagement .as il in one lpiece with each other at a speed gradually accelerating from zero to maximum, lthe said stud, hook and latch at the completion of that angular movement being in the positions in which they are respectively identified in Fig. 7, by the references 39a, gBand 40a. vFrom this point onward the 'parts 39, B, and 40 become'farther and farther separatedfrom each other, and during such separa-tion, they are caused to assume certain dilerent relative positions, five'of which are arbitrarily selected for illustration in Fig. 7a; in this 'figure and Fig. T the references herein termed normal references which have been employed for denoting the respective organs in the other figures, appear withsuperiors alphabetically arranged to correspond ,with the order of the positions which those organs respectively occupy. Thus, the positions respectivelyv occupied by the organs 39, B, and 40 at a certain instant, have'already been identified by the added superiors a, and the kpositions respectively occupied at the same instant, by the other organsv embraced in Figs. `7 and 7a, are readily identiiiable by the superiors a 'added' to their normal references. YIn otherwords, at the instant at which the reve'rsing stud 39 is at the position indicated at 39, all of the organs 30, 32, 34, 39, B, 40 and l41 are correspondingly at the positions in which they are respectively indicated at 30%, 32?, 34a, 39a, Ba, 40a, and 41a. To carry this description a further stage onward, `it is explained that when the reversing stud 39 isjatfthe position indicated at 39h, all of the organs 30, 32 34, 39, B, 40 and 41', are

correspondingly at the rpositions in which:

are respectively indicated at 30D, 32",

path of that rack, as khereinafter explained,

and which, immediatelythereafter, carries the bed 11 throughthat portion of its printing stroke which is of 'uniform velocity. From this stage onward the hook 'Btravels slower than kdoes 4the bed 11, and consequently, as shown in Fig. 7a, the reversing stud 39,'and latch 40, carried along with the bed 1 1, move ahead of the said hook, the latch 40, at the same time, being raised out of engagement withthe hook,throu`gh the action of the ascending part of'thecam race on theroller 41. By the time that the roller 41 reaches the higher portion or level of thecam race 43, the latch 40 has been raised above ytheY level of the hook "B, as indicated at 40e and 40, Fig. 7 #and can then travel unobstructedly over :the said hook.

As the bed 11 approaches'the endof its printing stroke, or 'more definitelystated at or about the instant at which thebed motion shaft 1 and pinion 4 complete the 3604-20; degrees of angular motion :from the position at whichthe bed lstarted the portion of its printing stroke of uniform velocity, the bedrack 12 runs out yof mesh with the pinion 4, andthe hook A is traveling at the same velocity as`the bed, "and ator about that instant the reversing stud 39 abuts against the vertical member A1 of that hook, and the roller 41A (which by thattime, had already been depressed by passing along the descending portion of the cam race 42),Y

completes the engagement of the latch with the hook A, thus, for the time being, locking vthe bed 11 to, and placing it under the control of the crank pin 30; this is the condition in which the respective organs are represented in Figf. The slowing down, stopping, reversing and speed-ingup ofthe bed now take place duringt'he next ensuing I,angular motion of say 180-2a degrees ot' the crank pin 80, that is to say, the movement of the crank pin to the position'in whichy it is represented in Fig. 6, justas though the said crank pin were in permanent operative connection with the bed, and at any part of the time occupied Aby the just-named angular movement of the" crank pin, the cams 27, 26 eiect a lateral movement of the bed pinions 18 and 4, to `bring the former (18) into a position in which it will subsequently be engaged by the rack 20 duringthe next ensuing or already started non-printing stroke, and theplatter (4) out ofthe path which will be pursued by the rack'12 during that stroke. At the completion of the just mentioned angular motion of 180-2@ degrees of the crank pin 30, the hook A is again 2c traveling at the saine velocity as is the bed 11. At that juncture the bed rack 20 runsk into mesh with and is operatively engaged by the pinion 18, and the mutual separation of the stud 39, v1nook A and latch 40 comniences, the latch being raised clear of the hook Aby the ascending part .of the 'cani race 42, in thesame manner as it was previously raised by the cam race 43 at the commencement of the printing stroke, as hereinbefore fully described in connection with Figs. 7 and 7a. l

Y The bed 11 is then traversed throughits non-printing stroke 'at uniform velocity by the rack 20 and pinion 18, and at or about the instant at which the pinion 18 completes say 3604-2@ degreesof angular motion from the position at which the bed started the portion of itsk non-printing stroke of uniform velocity, the bed rack 20 runs out of mesh with the pinion 18 and the hook B is traveling at the same velocity as the bed, and

at or about that instant the reversing stud' 39 abuts against the vertical. member B1 of that hook, and thev roller 41 (which, by that time, had already been depressed by passing along the deflected part ofthe cam race 43) completes the engagement of the latch 40 withthe hook B, thus, again, placing the bed 11 under the control of the crank pin 30. The slowing down, stopping, starting on the printing stroke, and speeding up of the bed 11 now take place during the next say 180-2a degrees of angular motion of the crank pin 30, that is to say, the 1805-2@ degrees angle marked in Fig. 7, and at any part of the time occupied by this angular movement of the crank pin, the cams 26, 27, effect a lateral movement of the bed pinions 4 and 18,' to bring'fthe former (4) intoa sition in which Vit will subsequently beengaged by the rack 12 during the nextensuing or already started ,printingstroka and the latter (18) out of the path which will be pursuediby the rack 20 during that stroke.

. t the vconclusion of the just-mentioned in the positions hereinbefore identiied by the superiors a in Figs.` 7 and 7 a andready to repeat the previously described cycle of operations. Fig. 4 representsthe condition of the im.-y proved bed motion at the stage at Which the bed 11 has completed one lhalf of its printing stroke, that is to"V say, the stage midway between those hereinbefore described with'reference to Figs. 3 and 5. ,n

In the conversion ofv circular or rotary motion into a vstraight linemotion by means of a rotating crank pin 30 and a connecting rod 31, it is'well known thatthe velocity of the slide 35 varies from point to point along its travel. Y

Let the crank pin 30 rotate with uniform angular velocity, and let Vzthe peripheral a well known construction forobtaining the velocity of the slide 35, let the crank'radius o of Fig. 8 represent to some scale the velocity V of the crank pin 30 and for any position of the crank pin let the line of the connecting rod 31, produced if required as in Fig. 8, intersect the vertical through .l (the axis of lthe bed motion shaft 1) at a point K, then the length 1K will represent the velocity of the slide ,35 to` the same scale as that at which the radius @represents the velocityfV of the crank pin 30.

The angular position of the crank pin 30 t and the position of theslide 35 in which its velocity is a maximum can be determined by a tedious calculation, but a sutliciently close approximation is that which assumes the velocity of the slide 35 to be at its maximum when the connecting. rod 3l and crankradius 1 are at right angles with each other. In the application of the mechanism according to the present invention to the reversal of the bed of a printing press, it is obvious that, as aforesaid, the slide 35 Vcan be satisfactorily engaged with the bed only .or approximately the same velocity asf that of the bed. The'velocity of the bed will be y at that instant at which it is moving in the s that of the pitch line of its driving pinion and whatever the crank radius 7 may be,

sincethat radius is moving with the same y angular velocity as the bed driving pinion, at the position or instant of engagement,'be-k tween the slide 35 and the bed, the intercept lK must -bev equal `to the pitch line radius of the pinion. e

` lFrom the above it will Abe seen that, in order tov fully appreciateV theessencejof the l present invention, it is necessary to ascertain the precise conditions which govern Athee-relationship between the lengths of the conhereinbefore Vassumed in connection withl f-Figs. yfl to 7a, ,and with special reference novv to Fig.9. 2

Let Rzradius of pitch line of y i 'bed' driving pinion Let zj-#angle of crank radius r assumed 'l With vertical line When .Y retardationy is'fto begin Let r=radiu`sof lci'r'ankariii Let .verhalf travelof `bed at its uniform velocity (determined by the fact that, one latch only lbeing eniployed to effectthe reversal of the 'bed at either endof its travel, the distance between the two ,positions in'Which the said latch engages with the respective hooks A and B must be equal uto the travel of the bed at uni'forinvelocity, and this distance ymust obviously equal the pitch line circumference of the bed'driving pinion multiplied by f hence the distance 0J must be equal -tol half the travel of the bed atj uniform velocity; this being fthe case, the length of connecting rodV is dependent liponthelatter distance) Y Let bzangle of'connecting rod'tvith horizentalline Let Lflengthl of connectingrod 31 Then Y v LSU-Hl) -T nb 180 viso fa f fxv-Wisow) Angle KC=Y,( 9( )-Z Angle DT'LQOfPbK-a). Also Rein `@zr-sin D, hence 'R sin()` lVhen 772B then ,Ci-D or (9D-b): (9o-pegan',`whericea=2a hen @2li the angle which the lconnecting rod, 31 lmakes fvviththe cranl radius fr Will be ,alrightan'glefand s Thales-.named condition-n Whhiais as Sumed to equal; b, is that in which, as rreviously,stated, theumaxiinum velocity of the y slide is equal tothe normal ,ormaximum velocity of the bedtand owing tothe fat that when the velocity of ythe slide 35 is at its maximum, then itsH accelerationy is zero, this Now, if `the crank radius r be greater than Ricos a, then the slide 35 will Thavea maximum velocity greater than that ofthe bed and a reversing stud on the bedco'uld not be -used inv conjunction With an engaging surface on the slide, inasmuch as the'V slide 35, for a period prior to its engagement with the bed, would be traveling' 'in' the same direction as the latter but at a greater velocity, and the said engaging surface would come into violent contact with the reversing stud. Ifthe reversing stud be discarded, as it is possible it ymay be, the just named difficulty does not arise and the craiikradius r could, without series disadvantage, be apjpreciably greater than the radius'of the bed pinion, Witha consequent increase in the length of the printing stroke and a shorteningy 0i the period of reversal. It is,fpre ferred, however, to use the vreversing stud 39 in the manner previously indicated, for the .reason that the mutually engaging'surfaces of it and the hook'A or'B can be perpendicular to the direction 0f travel of the bed 11,k and therefore there is no" Wear Vof those surfaces; when ythe reversing stud 39, and: consequently also the vertical members A1 B1, Vare dispensed with, the lstrains are taken 0n theJ inclined engaging faces'of .the latch 40 and hook A or B, and these strains would re-act on the cam races 42, 43, through the roller 41. If'the crank radius v" be less than R cos a,

then the vmaximum velocityof the slide 35 Itvill be less than the'velo'city of the bed so that -the engagement of the slide with the bed cannot be eiected Without the accompaniment of a sudden check equal to the diierence ofthe two'V velocities, and Whether a reversing stud be used or not, the engagement must necessarily be accompanied .by

Imore or less shock, Whichfat high speeds,

might have disastrous results. In any case itl would not be practicable or Safe to reduce the crankradius r beloviT the value R cos a as `found'or the ideal case, except toa very triling extent.

:tion,,the basic principle of Whichtmay' ybe A It `Will be understood that the before-de- `scribed mechanism is capable of various inodications,such, lfor instance, as the .ein-

said to involve a purely-rectilinear motion of varying velocity 0f a body suoli as a slide 35 produced through a connecting rod and a rotating crank, and the utilization of such motion for effecting the reversal of motion of a rectilinearly reciprocating bed, within a period which is less than one half of the period occupied nby one rotation of the crank.

The before described apparatus can be adjusted for taking up wear, by tightening the brasses or parts of the connecting rods 3l, 32, which are in pvoted connection with the crank pin 30 and slides 85,36,

As hereinbefore mentioned, the present invention, besides being applicable to printing presses, is also applicable to other machines in which an organ is reciprocated similarly to the bed of a flat bed printing press, and for that reason it is to be understood that the word bed as used in this specification and claims, is intended, wherever the context admits of it, to include or apply to all of such organs.

Having described our invention, wer declare that what we claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is l. In bed reciprocating` mechanism,-the combination with a reciprocating bed and two co-axial spur pinions adapted to move it at uniform velocity in respectively opposide directions, of a crank adapted to rotate about the axis common to both pinions,two connecting rods, two slides each connected to the saine crank by one of the said rods and adapted to be reciprocated thereby at velocities varying downwardly to and upwardly from zero, a hook having a vertical member and a horizontal member fast to each ofthe two slides, a stud rigid with the bed and adapted, by reason of the relative motion of the bed and slide, to engage with and disengage from the vertical vmember of each of said hooks, a latch pivotally connected to the bed and accompanying it throughout its travel, and means adapted'tol automatically effect the engagement of the-y latch with and its disengagement from the` horizontal member of each of the said hooks,`

crank, two slides each connected to that crank by one of the said rods and adapted to be reciprocated thereby at velocities varying downwardly to and upwardly from zero, a two-member hook fast to each of the two slides, a stud rigid with the bedand adapted, by reason of the relative motion of the bed and slide, to engage with and disengage from one member of each of the said hooks in alternation, a latch pivotally connected to the bed and accompanying it throughout its travel, and means adapted to automatically eiiect the engagement of the latch` with and its disengagement from the other member of each of the said hooks in alternation, the respective engagements and disengagements of thestud and latch with and from the hooks being effected at instants at whichthe velocity of the respective slide is at a maximum and equal or approximately equal to that of the bed.

In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands in the presence of two witnesses.

HERBERT PEARCE. `FRED SPENCE.

Witnesses:

' HENRY CARTER PUGH,

HAROLD SoU'rHwoR'rH.

Copies of this patent may be o'ntainee` foiI five vcents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. C." 

